The Mantas
by flowersun
Summary: One shots of Kaldur'ahm and Black Manta's life as father and son on the Manta Ship. Random stories ranging from different topics. Story Requests are accepted.
1. Chapter 1

_One shot Summary: Kaldur's second day on The Manta Sub with his father, Black Manta._

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As expected everything was new to Kaldur as he was given the tour of the Manta Sub by his father, David, aka Black Manta. The Manta Sub was his father's main ship and David took pride in it. During the tour he not only told Kaldur what each room was made for but why he decided to design it a certain way.

It so happen to be Kaldur's second day undercover for Nightwing. He had to pretend to go against his old teammates and mentor, Aquaman, and decide to join his biological father on the "other" side. In the planning stage, everything seemed easy, Nightwing gave him all the details to make this undercover mission a success. But once Kaldur convinced his father that he was trustworthy and was surprisingly accepted with open arms, that was when he realized the difficulties would start.

Kaldur actually boarded the ship for the first time yesterday. His father didn't even talk to him; instead one of the Manta Troopers quickly escorted him to one of the many open bedrooms and was told that he would be in Black Manta's presence the next day. Then the door was slammed shut in his face and locked. Fast forward to this morning, Kaldur finally was able to be around his father and talk to him. Well, actually just nod his head. For many reasons Kaldur was a little nervous to actually speak.

"And this is the cafeteria," David said stopping in front of the entrance, "mostly everyone eats three meals a day. But you can eat as much as you like."

Kaldur simply nodded his head in reply. Both men walked inside and Kaldur instantly saw his father's henchman, who liked to be called Manta Troopers, eating at the tables and happily chatting away. Once they saw their boss, everyone stopped eating and stared at Black Manta to see if there was any command about to be said. Kaldur didn't want to look at them in the eye for fear they could read his uneasiness, so he decided to stiffly stare straight ahead. David led his son into the back of the cafeteria and into the large kitchen. All the workers dropped their utensils and swiftly got into a line.

David rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively to his followers, "Go back to work. I am here to see the head chef."

Right on cue an obese man waering a professional chef hat and sweating profusely came out from around the corner. He took huge strides to reach Kaldur and David. Giving a bow he asked,

"Sir, how can I be of help?"

"Chef Nor, I want to introduce you to my son Kaldur'ahm; I am giving him a tour of the ship right now."

Chef Nor bowed to Kaldur, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you young sir. Would you do me the honor to shake my hand?" The chef slowly extended his hand with his head still facing the ground. Kaldur grabbed it and shook the man's hand. Chef Nor glanced up and Kaldur, the definition of courteous, smiled kindly at him. Surprised by this gesture, Chef Nor abruptly bowed even lower, not feeling worthy enough to get a smile from his boss's son. Kaldur felt like vomiting, he wasn't too keen of people bowing to him and making it seem like he was some kind of royalty. The two males let go of each other's hand and the chef stood up. David glanced at his son,

"Would you like to have anything to eat?"

"Oh yes young sir, I will make anything you like!" Chef Nor added on enthusiastically. Kaldur shook his head no and stepped back a little. David put his hand on Kaldur's shoulder and furrowed his eyebrows,

"Kaldur'ahm, are you sure you are not hungry? You have not eaten breakfast yet."

For the first time today Kaldur spoke, "No. I am not hungry. But thank you for the offer."

"Make him a medium sized omelet and glass of juice. Have it delivered to my office." David ordered, completely ignoring what his son just told him. Kaldur sighed inwardly and followed his father out the cafeteria.

Both made their way through the long hallways, no one speaking to each other. Kaldur didn't really know how to approach his father with conversation and David had so many things to tell Kaldur he didn't know where to start. Kaldur could feel the awkward tension rising between him and his father. But Nightwing's advice ringed through his mind, _"Act like you're interested in a building a father-son relationship. I know it'll be hard Kaldur, but please make an effort."_ Though Kaldur always felt Aquaman was the only father figure he needed, not acting like he's not interested could cost him his life.

"Sir, where are we going to next?" Kaldur asked curiously.

David looked at Kaldur with a small smile on his face, "To my office".

A few more turns and they were at Black Manta's office. Two guards were in front with laser guns protecting the door. Once the guards saw David they immediately stepped aside. David opened the door and waked in. Kaldur was going to pursue the same movement but one of the guards stopped him.

"Stop! We have to do a body check."

Kaldur's eyes widen and he stammered, "For what?"

"To make sure you are not hiding any weapons," replied the same guard that stopped him.

David was half way in his office when he heard the commotion.

"Kaldur'ahm?" David walked back outside his door to see the guards holding Kaldur and using a body scanner on him. David saw the uncomfortable-ness in Kaldur's eyes and his blood boiled inside,

"What are you doing?" he boomed. The two guards stopped what they were doing and looked at their boss with fear.

"We were making sure that he doesn't have any weapons." In a blink of an eye David grabbed the guard who spoke and slammed him into the wall with such force pieces of the wall fell to the ground. A crack was now forming right where the guard's head was.

"_He is my son!_ Do not even think he needs to be checked by filth like you." David hissed. Kaldur stared at the scene in shock. Of course he didn't like to be man-handled but his father going off in rage like that, Kaldur felt was unfair.

David let the guard fall to the ground and strode back into his office yelling, "Kaldur'ahm!"

Kaldur snapped out of his shock and ran inside the office. "Close the door." David retorted. Kaldur shut the door but not before giving the guard on the floor a concerned look.

Kaldur faced his father and watched as he sat behind his desk. He motioned for Kaldur to sit across from him. Kaldur walked to the chair, pulled it out, and sat down. Father and son stared at each other for a few seconds, before David broke the silence,

"Are you ok?"

"Yes," Kaldur responded, "he was only checking me. I do not think he did anything too terrible."

David squinted his eyes and pointed his finger at Kaldur, _"Do not let anyone ever disrespect you._" Kaldur's eyes diverted to ground, something about the way his father looked at him in the eye made him feel awkward.

There was a sudden knock on door, "Enter." David announced still analyzing Kaldur.

Chef Nor came in with Kaldur's food looking jittery. He put the dish on the desk in front of him and lifted the cover. There was the omelet and glass of juice Kaldur did not order, though he couldn't deny to himself that it looked good.

"Thank you Chef, I truly appreciate the meal." Kaldur thanked Chef Nor. The chef really must of not been use to kindness because he bowed for the fourth time today. He ringed his hands together excitedly and then rushed out the room closing the door behind him. Kaldur gave his father with a confused look and David shrugged his shoulders.

"He has always been like that. I am assuming he fears me, which is a good thing."

"I rather be well-liked_ than feared_." Kaldur blurted out accidently. Kaldur silently reprimanded himself for speaking out loud. David leaned back into his chair and stroked his chin,

"Really now. Let me guess, Aquaman brainwashed you to think that was acceptable."

Every bone in Kaldur's body itched to defend his King. He wanted to tell Black Manta that King Orin did tell him that bit not brainwashed him. Kaldur chose to stay silent though.

"But don't worry; I'll change that, "continued David, "eat your food before it gets cold." Obediently picking up his fork, Kaldur started to eat his food. David got up and slowly walked to the huge window in office that showed the sea. Watching a school of fish swim by he spoke,

"Kaldur'ahm, unfortunately you were taught to follow. To obey Aquaman like a servant. But under my rules,_ you will change_. No longer will you be known as Aquaman's lackey," David turned and walked back over to Kaldur, stopping in front of him, "I see weakness in you. But I will train you, push you to your limits, and unlock your true potential!"

Kaldur slowly set down his fork and raised himself from the chair. He gazed at Black Manta and stared him dead in the eye, "I will show you my potential. Trust me, you will not be disappointed."

David smirked at his son and put his hand on his shoulder, "_Than prove me wrong Kaldur'ahm_".

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**A/N: These one shots are all about Kaldur and Black Manta. If you would like to see a one shot about the father and son duo written up leave me a note. Thank you for reading :).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Story Request:**

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There were many tests Kaldur had to go through to prove he was worthy of being his father's right hand man. He already showed his loyalty by siding with his father against Aquaman, his truthfulness by _admitting_ secrets about the Justice League, and his leadership by completing small but successful tasks. Now the test was all about strength.

The Manta Ship had many rooms and one of them was the training area, which was a spacious square room with padded flooring and a huge amount of weapons to practice with. Kaldur stood off to the side near his father watching two of the new Manta Troopers spar against each other. David wanted to test the newcomers' battling abilities. Kaldur had to admit to himself, those two were very good and wondered how they learned to fight so well.

Though Kaldur didn't spar anymore, he could still remember when he once was Aqualad and the feeling of excitement as Black Canary tried to spin kick him. Or when she would pat him on the back and tell him good job as he would beat the overly confident Wally. Those were fond memories now. Kaldur knew there was a low percentage he would ever be able to spar with his old teammates again.

"I've seen enough," said David, aka Black Manta, "Well done. Both of you have exceptional defense skills and your offense is a force to be reckoned with."

The two Manta Troopers bowed in respect. Black Manta hardly gave compliments to anyone. It seemed like the only people to hear good encouragement was his son and himself.

"Choose who you would want to spar with Kaldur'ahm, it's your turn." David said glancing at his son.

"I did not know I would be training today?" Kaldur replied a little surprised.

"I want to analyze your strength in attacking. Last time I saw you battle was 5 years ago when I broke into Atlantis."

"I understand sir, but I am not at all prepared today." Kaldur tried to explain kindly. It wasn't that he actually _prepared _himself, well except for the occasional stretching, but doing certain stuff in front of his father still made him nervous, which caused him not to be in the mood to spar.

"In the heat of battle, one is never _fully prepared_. Therefore you always need to be aware and ready. Now go."

Kaldur gave David a blank stare, it was one of those moments that he felt like arguing with this man but decided against it,

"Yes father."

The young hero gazed at the two henchmen who were actively listening to Kaldur and David's conversation. But before he could even choose a partner, one of the henchmen raised his hand,

"Kaldur'ahm, I am William. It would be an honor to be your partner in this training session."

Kaldur raised his eyebrow at William and shrugged his shoulders. The two then went to the middle of the room and stood in their ready stance. With their bodies crouched a little, William asked,

"Ready?"

"Ready." Confirmed Kaldur.

The manta trooper charged at him with full force, as if he was waiting for this moment his whole life. He tried to punch Kaldur in the face, but Kaldur swiftly moved and avoided the impact. William stopped in his tracks and faced Kaldur once again; both circled each other waiting for a response. Kaldur was taught by Aquaman, Black Canary, and Batman that sometimes the best move was to play the defense. Decipher your partner's technique so you can figure out your best approach instead of just going in head first.

And so this went on for 10 more minutes, Kaldur would block the hits and at times punch his partner but never with enough force to take William to the ground because Kaldur only saw this a sparring, nothing serious. However this unfortunately made David impatient; he wanted to see Kaldur's power. What his son was doing, constantly blocking and avoiding, he considered cowardly.

"Hit him harder!" demanded David as he saw Kaldur kick William in the abdomen but only made him stumble a little.

Kaldur gave his full attention to his father who just unreasonably yelled. Suddenly Kaldur felt a strong fist hit him in the head. He was knocked to the ground and moaned a little in pain. Kaldur looked up at his sparring mate who had a scared look on his face.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! You suddenly just stopped blocking me!" William apologized while fearfully stepping backwards.

David sighed and walked to Kaldur; he grabbed him by the arm and stood his son up. David made sure to look at Kaldur's face for any signs of bruising and once he saw everything was ok he spoke,

"Get in a ready stance. You're going against me."

"You?" Kaldur asked shocked.

"Yes, you're going to prove to me you have the effect to take me down."

Kaldur accepted the challenge, though he really had no choice. What Black Manta didn't know is that Kaldur already knew his fighting style. He watched his father fight a few times before and understood his technique, that's what Kaldur was trying to do when he sparred with William. Now he just had to prove to his father, he had strength.

David put his hands up in fist and waited for Kaldur to do the same. Both men stared at each other for a second and went full force. David and Kaldur were throwing hits at each other, and every one of the blows would probably cause them to have bruises later. Things started to escalate; the hits became faster and looked harder. Both men were slinging each other around trying to be the first one to knock the other person on the ground. The two Manta Troopers watched in horror and amazement as father and son went at it.

Black Manta was a good fighter, he had a lot more experience than Kaldur did, but he didn't have Aquaman as a mentor. And Kaldur wanted this sparring match to be over, no matter how much he actually despised his father, the last thing he wanted was to fight him at this moment. Kaldur blocked his father's hit to the chest and kicked him as hard as he could in the stomach, which made David's stumble backwards. Kaldur then jumped in the air and slammed his fist into his father. Back on the floor he did a low spin kick that made David's knees buckle and fall to ground. All of this happened so fast and with so much force, David was on his knees in shock.

Kaldur took a deep breath to calm to his raging pulse and slowly walked to David. He held out his hand,

"Father?"

David accepted the hand and allowed his son to pull him up. Once gaining his balance he put his hands on Kaldur's shoulders and smiled proudly at him.

"Kaldur'ahm, that was amazing! That is what I want to see every time you fight! Do not hold anything back! Every time you are in battle, show your strength!" David recommended.

Kaldur nodded, "Yes father."

David smiled even more and said aloud, "Training over today. Come on Kaldur let's get a drink. I need to rest my body." David threw his arm around Kaldur's shoulder and walked his son out the training room, with the manta troopers in tow.

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**A/N: If you would like to do a one shot request, let me know :).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Story Request:**

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Kaldur was having a hard time staying awake. He slightly opened his eyes and saw the scene right in front of him. The doctor, who lived and worked on the Manta Ship, kept gesturing to him and then pointing to his clipboard. David, Kaldur's father, only nodded his head in response with a concerned expression on his face. Kaldur was currently in the ship's hospital bed and though he was struggling to stay conscious he knew what happened.

There was a mission that Black Manta, Kaldur, and the Manta Troopers were going on. The plan was to infiltrate a pearl compound in the Northern Sea. The pearls were a rare kind and cost a lot of money. Of course David wanted them so he could make a grand profit.

Unfortunately, the mission didn't go as plan. Somehow the man who owned the pearl compound found out that Black Manta was coming to steal from him and he hired Atlantian guards to protect his compound. Once the Manta Ship arrived and everyone got off with their weapons, a fight erupted and the battle begun. Majority of the Atlantian guards were killed or injured, even the owner of the pearls was beat to the ground.

Kaldur was about to report to his father when he felt a hard hit to his head. The impact was so strong; he instantly fell to the ground and blacked out. It was an Atlantian guard that survived the battle. He knew once he made his self-present he would be in danger, but he hated Kaldur. He heard of stories how Aqualad "lost his way" and wanted to at least injure him for betraying King Orin.

"Kill him!" yelled David as he pointed out the guard.

On cue blasts from the Manta Troopers weapons fired at the Atlantian instantly hitting him. David swam to Kaldur and checked for a pulse on his neck. Once feeling the beat, David turned to give orders,

"You two, help me get Kaldur'ahm back to the ship! The rest of you get the pearls!"

The mission ended up being a success, Black Manta got the rare pearls but for the cost of his son getting injured. And for the first time David regretted being greedy. He was starting to feel fatherly towards Kaldur and seeing his son hurt made him rethink his actions.

Fast forward to now; David was in the hospital room with the doctor as Kaldur laid in bed.

"Sir, Kaldur'ahm breathing is steady," said the doctor as he looked through the papers on his clipboard, "and his heartbeat is normal. He just got a concussion because of the impact to his head. I am sure he'll be fine."

"That's good news." replied David as he stood off to the side watching Kaldur.

"Yes, it is good news. For now Kaldur'ahm just needs to rest and take it slow." The doctor gathered his supplies and walked out the room.

David walked to the door and closed it. Sighing and rubbing his face in distress, he walked to the bed and looked down. Currently Kaldur's eyes were closed. Grabbing a chair and moving it close to the bed, David sat down and stared at his son. He noticed the blood stains on his face and the dirt that was in his hair. Kaldur truly looked like a wreck, though he did get a major blow to the head.

David looked across the room and saw a sink and towel. He got up and went to the sink, turning it on to cold. He grabbed a towel and put it under the water. Then David walked back over the chair and sat down. Leaning over he started to wipe the blood off of Kaldur's face. Not in a million years did David, the BLACK MANTA, thought he would be taking care of his son and wiping his face clean. But it pained him to see Kaldur injured and he felt extreme guilt. David knew this was the cost of being in this field of work and he wanted his son to be his right hand man, but at the same time he was starting to second guess putting his son in such danger.

Feeling a cold wet thing going across his face, Kaldur's instincts kicked in. He opened his eyes and saw his father hovering over him. Not use to this type of closeness, Kaldur jolted up and almost fell off the bed. David quickly grabbed Kaldur and slowly leaned him back down.

"Kaldur'ahm! Don't move you're going to make yourself dizzy." David reprimanded.

Kaldur gave his father a confused look and wanted to say _do not touch me!_ but just kept quiet. David saw Kaldur's expression and held up the towel,

"You had blood on your face."

Kaldur slightly sat up, "Thank you. Sorry for the reaction."

"Understandable. How are you feeling?"

"Slightly off balanced, but I am content." answered Kaldur truthfully.

"The doctor said you got a concussion after you were hit. After a few days of rest you should feel a lot better." David informed.

Standing up he pulled the covers up to Kaldur's neck more. Kaldur tensed up, his father showing care was something he was not use to. Before Kaldur met David, he imagined what he would be like. And every day since his idea of his father was proving to be wrong. Normally a person would be happy by this, their parent actually turning out better than what they thought of them. But for Kaldur it was bitter-sweet. Yes his father was showing his honorable, nice-side but he was still a criminal. And that was what bothered Kaldur every night. Though Nightwing's advice would always end up creeping into his head, _"Kal, buddy, you have to pretend you're interested in this, ok. You got to act like you're on the other side now. I need you."_

"Tell me how the mission went?" Kaldur suddenly asked.

"We got the pearls and soon they will be assessed on how much we can sell them for." David replied sitting back down.

"Excellent. Hopefully we can get a lot of money and invest in more high tech weapons."

David chuckled, "I like the way you think Kaldur'ahm, always looking towards the future. That's a good quality to have."

"Thank you father," Kaldur replied, "speaking of the future when is the next mission?"

David looked at Kaldur for a little before he spoke, it's not that he didn't want Kaldur to go on missions anymore, just didn't know when he wanted him to go back out there.

"Well, the next mission I have planned _for the Manta troopers_ is in a couple of days." David said.

Kaldur noticed his father's hesitation and quirked his eyebrow, "I am in this mission, right?"

"Well considering you're condition right now, no." David answered slowly, watching his son's expression turn to curiosity to disappointment.

"I thought the next mission was supposed to be breaking into Aquaman's palace and getting documents for The Light?" Kaldur questioned not fully understanding why he wouldn't be a part of that mission. If someone was going to break into Aquaman's home, the prefect person would be Kaldur since he did grow up there.

"Yes that is the plan. But Kaldur'ahm you're still injured and it's going to take a few days for you to recover. The worst thing is for you to go back into battle and get hit again."

Kaldur slightly moved to the edge of the bed and threw the blankets off of him and stood up. Ignoring his father's protest he walked and stood in front of him.

"Get back in bed! Kaldur'ahm you should not be standing up!" David commanded grabbing his son's arm.

Kaldur instantly shook off David's hand and stood firm, "I acknowledge that I did get hurt today and that I should be resting. But I want to go on this mission. Without me it won't be successful. I know where to find those confidential documents; I know how to get into the palace without being detected. I need to be on this mission."

Of course David didn't know how important this was to Kaldur. The documents that needed to be stolen had information about the Justice League. If those documents got into the wrong hands, more trouble would rise. Kaldur had to get the papers and discard some of the private information so his father and soon The Light wouldn't see it.

David glared at Kaldur for not listening to him, "I said no."

"Father please-"

"No Kaldur'ahm." David interrupted.

"At least think about holding off the mission till I get better so I can go!" Kaldur begged.

His father glared at him, though Kaldur could tell he was thinking about his offer.

"I don't usually compromise my commands. But since you desperately want to go...I can rearrange things. BUT it won't be till I see you get better AND you have to prove to me in training that you're capable of defending yourself." David replied sternly.

Kaldur wanted to argue with his father even more, he did not need to _prove_ anything to him, since getting hit in the head was a normal occurrence when you're fighting.

"Yes father." he obediently replied.

"Now get back in the bed," David pointed.

Kaldur inwardly sighed and got in. David once again pulled the covers up to his neck,

"If you need anything just push this button, I'll be a few doors down." David informed.

Kaldur simply nodded his head and stared straight at the door. David put his hand on Kaldur's head,

"Try to get some sleep." Removing his hand, David walked to the door and looked at Kaldur once last time before he turned off the light and closed the door.

Kaldur stared straight across the room; his eyes never leaving the door. He had to admit, it was nice that his father cared about his health but Kaldur didn't need his father's caring attitude. Kaldur was here on a mission to take down The Light, not reconcile his father-son relationship with David. He already had a father figure, Aquaman, and he didn't need another one.

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**A/N: I have one more one-shot request to write, but everyone can still send in their requests :).**


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